Anxiety looms over Georgia’s election as voters cast ballots

TBILISI, Georgia — Georgians are hitting polling stations this morning to cast their votes in a parliamentary election that could determine whether the South Caucasian country tilts toward the EU or Moscow.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been at the helm of the government since 2012, is being criticized for its authoritarian shift. It’s competing against a coalition of pro-European opposition parties that have pledged to correct the country’s deviation from the EU path.

Should Georgian Dream win another term, it has pledged to ban virtually all opposition parties.

With such high stakes, voting kicked off in a tense environment.

Election observers, such as ISFED, have reported three alleged cases of vote-buying, and local media outlets have reported an incident involving a physical confrontation at one of the polling stations. According to local publication Publika, an opposition activist was beaten.

A video circulating online shows a man, identified as a ruling party representative, stuffing a ballot box with dozens of ballots at one of the polling stations in Marneuli in southern Georgia.

The country’s Central Election Commission reported voter turnout at 9.27 percent as of 10 a.m. Tbilisi time.

“I’m confident the majority of the population will choose a European future for Georgia,” said opposition United National Movement party leader Tina Bokuchava after casting her vote.

The founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, used the moment to describe the opposition as “warmongers,” aiming to drag Georgia into war with Russia.

“Some politicians are trying to lead Georgia toward peace … while others, servants of foreign power — so-called agent politicians — are attempting to fulfill what foreign countries want for Georgia: a war.”

Just two days before the election, Georgian authorities raided Western businesses and the homes of employees of the Atlantic Council, a U.S. think tank. The two researchers whose homes were raided have been monitoring disinformation and Russian influence in Georgia.

U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson condemned the raids, saying the fact “that this happened two days before the critical national election is especially troubling.”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Georgia would “reboot relations with the U.S. and EU as soon as this election is over, as soon as the war in Ukraine is over.”